Staple remover



Aug. 22, 1944. F, POLZER 2,356,693

STAPLE REMOVER Filed Oct. 7,1945

mv' I 5 3g W W -40 I m I Patented Aug. 22, 1944 STAPLE REMOVER FridolinPolzer, Norwalk, Conn., assignor to The E. H. Hotchkiss Company,Norwalk, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application October 7,1943, Serial No. 505,333

Claims.

This invention relates to a device or tool for removing staples orsimilar fasteners from papers, cardboard, boards or similar articles,particularly substantially U-shaped staples either with clinched prongsor when driven as tacks without clinching, and has for an object toprovide an improved and simplified device which will easily and quicklyremove the staples and will insure that they will not be thrown as theyare withdrawn from the stapled article but will be retained for laterdisposal as desired.

Another object is to provide a device which may be used for withdrawingstaples as readily from flexible articles, such for example as sheets ofpaper, as from more rigid articles and Without tearing the article. 7

A further object is to provide a staple remover which may be combinedwith a letter opener.

With the foregoing and other objects in view I have devised theconstruction illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part ofthis specification. It is, however, to be understood the invention isnot limited to the specific details of construction and arrangementshown but may embody various changes and modifications within the scopeof the invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a combination letter opener and stapleremover constructed according to my invention showing it inserted undera clinched staple in papers or similar articles preparatory to theaction of withdrawing the staple, the stapled articles being shown insection;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 1 showing it in position withthe staple withdrawn;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are transverse sections on an enlarged scalesubstantially on the lines 44, 5-5 and 6-6 respectively of Figs. 1 and3;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 1 showing a somewhat modifiedconstruction;

' Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the device of Fig. 7, and

Fig. 9 is a transverse section on an enlarged scale substantially online 99 of Fig. 7.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, the device comprises a basemember I!) provided with an elongated tapered and pointed end portion IIwhich may be formed in the shape of a blade to be used as aletter-opener or paper-knife with relatively sharp edges I2 at theopposite sides thereof. This blade portion may terminate in outwardlycurved or fiared sides Ila. 'At the other end the base is provided witha handle I3. This base member may be formed from sheet metal of I6 areclinched by bending orfolding after being driven through the articles tobe stapled, or it is equally adapted for removing staples in which theprongs have been driven into an article such as a board withoutclinching. The tapered pointed blade facilitates insertion of the deviceto the staple removing position.

Mounted on the top side of the base member is a lever II pivoted at I8in any suitable manner. A simple and eifective means for mounting thelever is to bend up ears I9 at opposite edges of the base member andprovide similar downwardly bent ears 20 on the opposite edges of thelever, as indicated in Fig. 6, overlapping the ears I9 and to which theyare pivoted by the transverse hinge pin 2| passing through theoverlapped ears. A wire spring 22 embraces the hinge pin and hasopposite free end portions 23 and 24 engaging the lever and the basemember so as to tend to swing the lever counterclockwise as viewed inFig. 1 to" hold it in the normal position preparatory to the stapleremoving operation. At the forward free end of the lever it is providedwith one or more lugs normally adjacent the top surface of the basemember I0 so that it or they pass under the bar I5 of the staple whenthe end portion II is inserted between this bar and the stapledarticles, such for example as the papers 26. Prefer ably there are apair of laterally spaced lugs 25, although a single lug of proper widthcould be used, and the preferred manner of locating them normally at oradjacent the surface of the base member is to recess them into thismember. This may be done by recesses or openings 21 opening from the topof the base member, as shown more.

clearly in Figs. 4 and 5, a convenient way .being to punch openings inthe member. in which the lugs 25 are normally seated and held by actionof the spring 22.

Adjacent these lugs and associated therewith is a guard which when thedevice is in staple removing position is located over the topb'ar I5 ofthe staple so that when the staple is withdrawn from the stapled articleit will not bev thrown around the room with the danger of injuringsomeone, as by hitting them in the eye, but will retainv the removedstapleon the prongs. This could be located on the base member, but ispref-- erably mounted on the lever I1, and is shown in the drawing as aninverted curved member 28 located between the lugs 25 and spaced abovethem so that its free end does not interfere with the bar l5 passingunder this guard and to a position over the top of the lugs 25 as thetapered end portion ll of the base member is inserted under the bar 15.The attached inner end portion of this guard also acts asa stop meanstoengage the bar of the staple and limit the amount the tapered portion ofthe base member is inserted under the bar of the staple.

Thus in using the device the point of the tapered portion II is insertedunder the top bar [5 of the staple between this bar and the stapledarticles 26, the fiat lower surface of the base resting on and slidingalong the surface of the stapled articles. The device is inserteduntil'the bar [5 of the staple is engaged by the attached base portionof the guard 28 or some other suitable stop, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.,with the prongs underlying the bar l5 and the guard 28 overlying thisbar. This is also the position shown in Fig. 4. If the operator nowdepresses the free end 29 of the lever ll by merely pressing down on itwith his or her finger the lugs 25 will be raised and carry with themthe staple by withdrawing it from the stapled article, the prongs I 6yielding or more or less straightening out as shown in Fig. 5. This isthe position of Figs. 3 and 5. During this operation of withdrawing thestaple the fiat lower surface 38 of the portion H of the base memberrests on top of the stapled article, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, andsupports this article or holds it so that it is not drawn up by theprongs of the staple and the prongs are therefore readily and completelyseparated from the papers or other clinched articles and without tearingthe article. The base portion II at this point is preferably about thewidth of the staple between the prongs so that its opposite side edgesare adjacent the prongs. It is to be noted, however, that as the prongsl6 of the staple are somewhat resilient, when they are withdrawn theywill release or be withdrawn from the stapled article by a sudden actionso that at this point the free end of the lever will quickly moveupwardly, and if the staple were free it would be fiipped or thrown withthe danger of causing injury to someone and would of course need to belater picked up. With the guard 28, however, this action is prevented asthis guard prevents the staple flying off of the lugs so that it isretained and held by these lugs, as

indicated in Figs. 3 and 5. It can be easily removed, however, bysliding it off with the fingers, or by merely dropping the pointed endportion ll so that it will slide off the lugs. The side edges of thelever may be bent downwardly, as indicated at 3|, to provide ribs orflanges along these edges to give a substantially channel shaped crosssection, to thus stiffen and strengthen the lever so that it willnotbenol out of shape under the action of removing the staple;

A somewhat modified form is shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, although theoperation is the same. In this form the base member 32 is somewhatshorter than the base member [8 in the first form with a shorter pointedfree end portion 33-to be inserted under the bar l5 of the staple. Alsothe handle is made somewhat shorter by bending it upwardly and curvingit to form a loop 3.4 to receive a finger of the operator. The lever 35is substantially the same as the lever 11 of the first form except thefree fingergrip end 35 is curved somewhat upwardly and downwardly. Theopposite end of the lever is provided with the lugs 25 recessed orseating in openings 21 in the base member, the same as in the firstform, so as to pass with the base member to a position under the staplebar I5 when the pointed tapered end portion 33 is inserted under thebar, and is provided with the same guard 28 passing over the top of thestaple bar when in the staple removing position, and to retain thestaplethe lugs and prevent it being thrown about as the staple prongs freethemselves from the stapled article during the staple removingoperation. The base 32 has a flat underwall 31 to rest on the topsurface of the stapled articles, the same as in the first form, andholdthe article to prevent its being pulled upweirdly or torn by thestaple and insure complete separation of the prongs from the stapledarticle. As shown in Fig. 9, the lever 35 is mounted upon ears 38 cutand bent upwardly from the base member 32 and the lever has downwardlybent ears 39 at its opposite edges overlapping the ears 38 and to whichthey are pivoted by the pivot and hinge pin 48. A spring 4i embracesthis pin and has free end portions 42 and 43 engaging the lever and-thebase respectively to retain the lever in the normal position with thelugs 25 seated in the recesses or openings 21 in position for insertionunder the bar [5 of the staple. This device is inserted between this barand the stapled articles the same as in the first form until the barlies over the lugs 25 and under the guard 28 as shown in Figs. 7 and 8,and then by depressing the lever 35 by pressing on the free end portion36 it is shifted to the dotted line position, withdrawing the staple asindicated in Fig. 5, the same as in the first form. This makes asomewhat more compact and shorter tool or device than that of the firstform, but its operation and effectiveness is the same.

It will be seen from the above that in either form the device may bequickly and easily inserted under the staple bar and the staple quicklyand easily removed by merely depressing the free end of the lever. Theflattened base member rests on the top of the stapled article andsupports it during the staple removing operation so that the device isjust as effective and as easily manipulated to remove staples fromflexible articles such as sheets of paper as from more rigid articlesand will not tear these articles. A particular advantage is that thestaples are not thrown asthey are Withdrawn from the article. The formof Figs. 1, 2 and 3 may also be used as a letter opener and papercutter.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention what I claim is:

1. A staple remover comprising a base member adapted to be insertedunderthe top bar of a clinched staple, a member mounted on the basemember including a portion to move under the bar with said base memberand a second portion to at the same time move to a position over saidbar, said second portion extending forwardly over and downwardly infront of the bar in position to retain the staple on the first portionand prevent its flying therefrom as it is removed, and means for raisingthe said second member from the base member to remove the staple.

2. A staple remover comprising a base member provided with a free endportion adapted to be insertedunder the top bar of a clinched staple, alever pivoted to said member provided with a lug so located as to moveto a position under said bar with the base member, a guard on said leveradjacent the lug to at the same time move to a position over the bar,said guard extending forwardly over and downwardly in front of the barin position to retain the staple on the lug and prevent its flyingtherefrom as it is removed, and means for operating the lever to raisethe lug and guard from the base member to remove the staple.

3. A staple remover comprising an elongated tapered and pointed bladeprovided with relatively thin sharp edges and adapted to be insertedunder the top bar of a clinched staple between said bar and the stapledarticle, said blade being substantially flat and extending backwardlyfrom the staple to rest on the surface of the article and then ofisetupwardly to form a handle for said blade spaced above the article, alever pivotally mounted on top of the blade provided with a lug at oneend adjacent the top of the blade and movable with the blade into aposition under the bar, and a finger grip on the lever above the bladeterminating adjacent the forward end of the handle for lifting the lugto withdraw the staple from the article.

4. A staple remover comprising an elongated tapered and pointed bladeprovided with relatively thin sharp edges and adapted to be insertedunder the top bar of a clinched staple between said bar and the stapledarticle, a handle for said blade, a lever pivotally mounted on top ofthe blade provided with a lug at one end normally recessed into the topof the blade so as to move with the blade into a position under the bar,a guard adjacent the lug extending forwardly and downwardly over the barto a position to retain the withdrawn staple on the lug, and a fingergrip on the lever for lifting the lug to withdraw the staple from thearticle.

5. A staple remover comprising a base member provided with a free endportion adapted to be insertedunder the top bar of a driven staplebetween said bar and the stapled article, said base member beingsubstantially flat and elongated to rest on the top of the article andat some distance from the free end being offset upwardly to provide ahandle spaced above the surface of the article, a lever pivotallymounted on said member provided with a lug normally located adjacent thetop surface of the base member to move to a position under the bar withsaid memher, said lever including a finger grip extending to a positionadjacent the forward end of the handle by which the lever may beoperated by depressing this grip while the handle remains stationary toraise the lug to withdraw the prongs of the staple from the article, andsaid base memher being of a width somewhat less than the distancebetween the prongs but of a sufiicient width so as to support thearticle adjacent the prongs during the withdrawing operation.

FRIDOLIN POLZER.

